Be Better, Brad! (Update 4-11-2024 with new swing videos)

[betarhoalphadelta]

I've chilled out with golf-related activity this week as my golfer's elbow was flaring a little after Sunday. Did a little putting work on the putting mat in the house, but not much.

 

Went to the range this morning to start getting back to work on the movement to improve my sequencing and get the hips open w/o early extending. Didn't take video (I didn't want to lug my push cart today where I set up the phone, and only took 7i/PW/SW), but just by what I'm feeling in my left hip, I was doing better.

 

Most of the session was short 7i swings with longer ones interspersed, and target practice with the PW and SW to the various 55 gal drums reachable from my range mat. I also aimed at the 100 yard marker with SW and tried to adjust flight to the marker with full swing and trying to hit shorter distances with choking up and/or shorter swings. 

 

Still have a tendency to turn the ball too far left, but I worked a bit with a stronger left hand grip today (not focusing on hands during swing, just setup) and that was helping somewhat to tame it. 

 

Just feeling a lot better with the results of today's session. 

 

Playing 9 with my son tomorrow afternoon, but it's a 2:20 weekend tee time at the exec course, which means it might be a 3 hour round 🙄

 

I also just ordered demo clubs from Sub70. Ordered the 699 Pro 6i/9i in Xstiff and the 699u 19.5* in Xstiff. Shaft is KBS Tour X. Sadly they're standard length/lie/grip, but it's still better than nothing to figure out if the shaft is right for me and if I like the look of the clubs. It's a completely different shaft from the NS Pro 950 S that I'm used to, but based on testing a Modus 120 S at the PGATSS, I don't think I'm going to have any issue with the weight. Those demos should be here Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get a session or two at the range before my next 18-hole round next Saturday so I can figure out distances/etc and then try them in a live situation. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played another 9 with my son yesterday. On the first tee we're supposed to be paired with an older couple who tells us to go ahead and they'll wait. I always hate that on this course; it's slow enough as it is that people choosing to play as twosomes just stack things up. But as the green clears I see two kids maybe just slightly older than my son walking up, so I tell my son to introduce himself and see if they want to join us. They do, so I'm now the old dad guy with a bunch of teenagers lol.

 

At least based on the first hole I knew they weren't a threat to beat me though 😉 

 

Hole 1 - 85 yards, par 3, HDCP 9: Green is protected in the front right by a bunker. There's a creek running down the left side of the hole, so anything left or long/left is dangerous. Tees in the middle, blue flag, and my watch tells me it's 100 to the back edge, so I'm estimating about 95. I take a full grip SW and easy swing. Catch it really nicely, I see it tracking slightly left of the pin, and it lands just on the very back edge of the green and rolls just off. As I'm walking up to the hole I see that my "back pin" wasn't... It's a good 10 yards short of the back edge. I've got a 30-35 foot putt. My ball is just off the fringe in some rough, and I choose to putt instead of chipping out. I don't hit it very well, and it stops about 10 feet short. Knock the next one in to tap-in distance. Bogey, +1. 

 

Hole 2 - 100 yards, par 3, HDCP 3: Long but narrow green. There's a pond between the tee and the green that's not in play unless you chunk it, or hit short and right, as the pond extends a little up to the right. The green is protected on the left by a bunker, and if you go long/left here, you can very easily lose a ball as the creek winds around back there. Tee is middle, but pin is way up, so it's playing about 85. I take a choked down SW and easy swing. Hit it nicely, see it a little right of the hole, and lands a few yards long and right. Overall about as well as I can expect to do from there, so I'm happy. Left with a 12-footer downhill and right-to-left break for birdie. I read and strike it pretty well, but it stops about 6" short for a tap-in. Par, +1.

 

Hole 3 - 95 yards, par 3, HDCP 6: Back to front sloped green with bunkers on both sides. Tee is in the middle to at a center pin, so I'm again estimating about 90-95. Same thing as #1, full SW and easy swing. Contact is not great. I suspect a little off the toe based on the sound. It's pulled slightly left and lands just short of the green, but puttable from the fringe. I pace it off at about 14 paces, so 40 feet, up the hill. I don't hit it poorly, but still it stops about 6' short. Next putt gets me to tap-in distance again. Bogey, +2.

 

Hole 4 - 88 yards, par 3, HDCP 7: Despite the lack of length, and this being considered the 3rd-easiest hole on the course, I disagree. The green is very narrow and long. Anything left of the green rolls off into the creek. Anything long will likely be in the creek. The green is flat to sloped away from the tee, so it's not going to hold shots without spin. The tees are in the middle but the pin is all the way back, I'm estimating 70 yards. The green is kidney-shaped and you can't run up to this pin, and I don't feel good about flying all the way there with a partial SW that I'm not sure I can spin enough to stop. So my plan is to try to land the ball in the fringe area or even the rough about midway up the depth of the green and allow it to slow the ball and take it down the hole. Of course none of that matters because I slightly chunk it and I'm way short of the green anyway. Now I've got the same look pitching, and I hope to pitch through that fringe area and run it up. My pitch is clean, but I don't estimate the distance well enough, and I'm now left with about a 30-footer for par. My lag putt is really good this time, and I get to within two feet, which I make. Bogey, +3.

 

Hole 5 - 210 yards, par 4, HDCP 2: Water all the way down the left, and the hole plays dogleg left if played as a par 4. Again the tees are back and left, so there's not even an angle to the green. Which is fine, I like to play this hole conservatively. I decide to take PW off the tee because I keep hooking everything else into the water. When I was on #2 I saw that this pin is up anyway, so safe is a good play here. I hit a near-bladed PW--never gets more than 20 feet off the ground. But it's on a perfect line and with a slight draw, so what could have been a 145 yard PW shot ends up being about 160+. Poor shot; great result. I'm in the fairway about 40 yards from the pin. I pitch with the SW and hope to land it on the very front of the green, which has a little slope towards me that should help stop it. It flies a bit farther than I hope and almost pin-high, and then rolls another 30 feet past the hole. Got a 30-footer with some decent left-to-right break towards the pond coming back. But again I hit a perfect lag put to tap-in distance. Par, +3. 

 

Hole 6 - 66 yards, par 3, HDCP 9: Very short hole, with a decent side bunker protecting the front right of the green, and safety everywhere else. Playing down about 60 yards to a center pin. I want to just hit a really easy SW here, basically a long pitch. And... I chunk it about 35 yards. Now I've got a shorter pitch. I hit it and it's pulled a little left of the pin, but I had the distance perfect and it runs up to pin high. Now I've got a 5-6 footer to save par, and one of the kids has an almost identical putt showing me the line--it breaks less than I thought. So with a good read I tap my putt and it hits dead center of the hole. Par, +3.

 

My son on this hole had a GIR (barely on the front of the green) and got himself to within 6' for a par chance. I pull out my phone to record his first ever par... And it lips out... 😭😭 But at least he saved bogey... No GIR double this time!

 

Hole 7 - 116 yards, par 3, HDCP 4: Narrow and long green, VERY narrow in the front as it's protected on both sides by bunkers. Tee is up but pin is way back, watch says 124 to the back and so I'm guessing it's just shy of 120. I go for a choked-down PW and easy swing. Aiming slightly right of the pin due to my tendency to turn things left and a right-to-left wind on this hole, but I hit it off the toe and lands in the right bunker. My ball is basically on concrete at the bottom of the bunker, so I'll admit I improved my lie--still on wet nasty sand, but at least it's sand. I blast out decently, and a bit long, but somehow I managed to get spin on it because it stopped almost dead on the back of the green which slopes away from me. I've got a 15-footer to save par, which I again leave myself tap-in distance. Bogey, +4.

 

Hole 8 - 85 yards, par 3, HDCP 8: Pretty generous round green for this course, with bunkers left and right. Tees are middle and the pin is up, so I've got 75-80 yards here. My son has already hit and made GIR, so now the pressure is on to hit it inside of his ball lol! The usual choked-up SW and easy swing, and I make nice contact. I'm a little long right, but I'm also on the green about 15 feet from the hole; slightly shorter putt than my son lol. It's a downhill right-to-left breaker, and I read and strike it pretty well, but don't convert. It rolls about 18" past and despite pace-of-play and all that I force myself to putt it out for par to earn it. Par, +4.

 

Again my son leaves himself 6' or so for par. Again I pull out the phone to catch it on video... Again he misses but converts for bogey. One of these days one of those is going to drop--and it's probably going to be when I forget to pull out the phone lol.

 

Hole 9 - 275 yard, par 4, HDCP 1: Again, this is a strategy hole where you lay up short of fairway bunkers, and then have to carry over a creek to the green. Tees are way back, so I figure it's 185 to the bunker. I take the 7i. I'm aiming right, and hit what feels like a toe strike. It's starting left of my intended line but still middle-right of the fairway, with a slight draw. I'm a little worried I've drawn it too much and brought the hazard into play, but I see it land well right of the hazard and I'm safe. Now comes the problem... I'm facing a blind shot over the hazard. I estimate I'm 115-125 from the middle of the green and 125+ to the pin where it's located today, but with the design of this green it's narrow from my angle and I can't see it anyway. I have my son confirm that the group in front of us has cleared the green and act as my spotter. Normally I'd take easy choked-down PW here, but I'm not sure I can get enough elevation to avoid the tree. So I take a SW and know I've gotta step on it. I blast it and immediately lose the ball; I have no idea where it went. My son can see it, and after it lands, looks over and gives me the "thumbs up" sign. Turns out I hit almost pin-high, just right of the green, and I'm safe. I've now got a short easy chip with SW. I hit it about perfectly and it rolls up to pin high, 2' left of the hole. I hole it out from there for a par. Par, +4.

 

So I got around in a 33, and +4, my personal best at this course. No doubles all day, and actually not even any 5s because I managed to par both of the par 4 holes. 

 

I'd say my strength today was consistency and lag putting. I had a few bad shots, but not enough in a row to really hurt me. And a few of my longer putts on GIR I didn't turn into bogeys with 3-putts. 

 

My disappointments were that I had opportunities that I could have converted and really put a low number together. #1 and #3 I really would have liked to gotten up and down. #2 and #8 it would have been really nice to see a birdie putt drop. But that said, getting up and down for par on #6 could have easily gone the wrong way, and I was clearly flirting with a penalty area on #9 where I could have pitched to safety and then taken an easier approach to the green over the hazard. 

 

So overall a pretty darn good round. I'm quite happy with that. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Next Saturday is my next 18-hole round, and I was able to secure a tee time at a 6400+ yard course with a rating of 70.5 and slope of 126. My two previous rounds there are a 109 and 112 oof... Fast and tricky greens. At least I have a lot of room for improvement!

 

So my goal this week is to get my normal range work in, continuing to work on ingraining the move. But on top of that I need to focus on driver and 4w on the range more than I usually do because I am hurting myself significantly by not having them available on this course. And I'll need to practice with the Sub70 demos and figure out what clubs they replace in my bag. I carry 13 now and this is 3 clubs... I suspect that with modern lofts, the Sub70 6i might replace my 5i and the 9i might replace my 8i, and I might leave the my current 3i in the bag and add the Sub70 utility 3i as it's 19.5* and might be stronger than my 3i. Either way, it can be a driving iron on the shorter/tighter par 4s. 

[bortass]

That's a very solid round. Your mishits were better than they have been prior rounds. No shanks and the mishits were serviceable, that's pretty big. Your putting sounded solid too. Avoiding three putts will help keep big numbers off the card and the occasional long one putt will create some unexpected low numbers. You lagged the ball to a pretty good radius around the hole, keep that up and your overall scores will drop.

 

Next Saturday sounds like it'll be a good challenge. Distance off the tee will be important but it has to be balanced against playability. It sounds like you have a plan to prepare for it by working on longer clubs at the range. I have used two different mindsets when it comes to tee shots when driver was questionable. First one was I want to try to score well which means getting the ball in play. Scoring decently was never in the cards for me if my tee shot was going into the trees. Best case scenario is I lose a stroke trying to get back in position and it just gets worse from there. Second mindset was I gotta learn to hit my driver. So d@mn the OoB Scotty, give me all she's got! I just kept using driver even though I knew it would likely hurt my score. I'd make a decision ahead of time as to which I was doing.

 

The advantage about having a game plan a head of time is it should reduce stress because you already know what you plan to do and you're not second guessing things. So I recommend determining how much of a leash you'll have on the driver before teeing off on #1.

 

Now the wrinkle was when I play 9, I'm solo, so no money game nor posting a score for handicap purposes. That makes it easy for me to just say screw it, I'm hitting driver no matter what! Saturday's 18 has $ involved, not much mind you but still... I want to score the best I can to try to snag some skins, not gonna do that if I'm taking drops.... 4w off the tee, here we come. The driver stayed in the bag except on select holes when I played 18 until I got it under control playing 9. You don't seem to have that luxury since it sounds like getting tee times can be a challenge outside of that short course where you really can't hit driver much. So maybe I just typed all this for no reason, lol.

 

Good luck out there and I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes Saturday.

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The good news about the course Saturday is that it's fairly open. There are some holes where water comes into play, but usually not much off the tee--more as you approach the green. Being a bit wild could result in playing holes from the next fairway... But it wouldn't be the first time lol. And that's better than OoB or penalty strokes.

 

The bigger question is making good contact. A shot with good distance but poor directional control doesn't hurt me. Topping it 45 yards does hurt though... And that shot's in my bag lol.

 

If I like the Sub70 3 utility iron as a driving iron, though, that'll help on some of the shorter/tighter par 4s, giving me only 6-8 holes where driver really makes my life that much easier--and most of those are more open. My current 3i is my 225 club, so if it gives me a few more yards it'll bring all but the longest par 4s into reasonable play for a short iron approach.

[betarhoalphadelta]

How much swing speed and distance do you lose when you swing shorter clubs? 

 

The 699 Pros are 1.5" shorter than my clubs. Literally the 3u plays at 39", my 6i length. Their 6i is my 9i length, and their 9i felt like a child's toy. I don't know... This is the 9i. Doesn't it just look like a junior club? 

 

 

The start of my range session was a mess. I mean literally I couldn't do anything right. I was all over the place. At the beginning I couldn't hit the 699s, but I also couldn't hit my own clubs, so it started off very discouraging. The 699s were very low trajectory at the start, and my own clubs were going all over the map. 

 

I took some time to mess around with the SW and just shoot at the 55 gal drums, and try to get into a rhythm. Eventually I settled down my tempo and my rhythm and it started coming back together.

 

At that point I started to get a better sense of the 699s. Overall they were nice. I don't know that they were any more or less forgiving than my CBs, but I was hitting them fairly decently... Once I was in a rhythm I was hitting the 3u with nice ball flight and pretty good trajectory. I think trajectory on all 3 clubs was just me trying to adjust to the length--once I started hitting nearer the sweet spot the trajectory improved to where it should be. I also wasn't fighting the lefts nearly as badly as usual... Could that be due to the reduced offset, or maybe the stiffer/heavier shaft? But... There was no distance! 

 

I'm trying to figure out whether that's due to the move up to the KBS Tour X shaft at 130gm, whether it's due to the 1.5" length reduction relative to my set, or what? 

 

My last 4 balls were with the driver, and I really tried to simply moderate my tempo and keep my back to the target in transition. I made decent contact and the last two balls were pretty darn good. 

 

 

Going to hit the range again tomorrow and hopefully keep the good feelings that I finished with today going. Planning on resting Friday before my round Saturday, but that course has a range so I'll try to get some warmup and see where the driver is that morning before the round too.

Edited April 28, 2021 by betarhoalphadelta

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range again... Overall another so-so day. Spent a lot of time with much easier, slower, half swings, working on the hip motion, because not a lot else was working.

 

Did spend a little time with driver and 4w with the round Saturday coming up. Driver was a bit of a mess. I was making good contact but a lot of big, arcing hooks. On a lot of holes Saturday I'd be playing from adjacent fairways with some of those. 4w was working though, and that's enough of a distance boost over 3i that I'd take it Saturday if it's working. 

 

I don't think I can determine enough about the 699 Pro irons with these standard-length demos. I'm going to have to get a fitting when I decide to make the call on new clubs, and should probably get more practice before I mess around with any of that. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Horrific. 

 

Not going to bother going hole by hole. I shot 121. That's +49. Literally felt like I forgot how to hit a golf ball. Tee, approach, and short game were all terrible. Won zero skins: made 3 pars but one was matched by another par and the other two the guy who had strokes made bogey.

 

The only parts of my game that I didn't hate were putting and bunker play. And they were merely acceptable, not good.

 

Ugh.

[bortass]

On 5/1/2021 at 6:49 PM, betarhoalphadelta said:

Horrific. 

 

Not going to bother going hole by hole. I shot 121. That's +49. Literally felt like I forgot how to hit a golf ball. Tee, approach, and short game were all terrible. Won zero skins: made 3 pars but one was matched by another par and the other two the guy who had strokes made bogey.

 

The only parts of my game that I didn't hate were putting and bunker play. And they were merely acceptable, not good.

 

Ugh.

Man, I had a rough time Saturday and didn't expect someone to have a hold my beer moment. Sorry to hear it. It's a kick in the (insert body part of choice here) when things go sideways like that. It kinda reminds me of the time I played 18 and lost 20 balls.... That's not an exaggeration either, that was a painful day even with cheap balls...

 

 I'm hoping there was something positive from the round for you whether it's a good shot or the weather is nice.

 

Did you play with the short demos? 1.5 inches shorter than you are used to doesn't sound like an easy change to make in a short amount of time.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Okay, some stats from Saturday...

 

Tee:

FIR: 3/14

S@#$%s/tops/etc: 8/18

Lefts: 4/14

 

GIR: 2

 

Shots from 100 or less: 67

Average from 100 or less: 3.72

 

Putts: 37 (not counting a few from the fringe)

 

So you can see my scoring distance activity was terrible... With only 2 GIR and 37 putts, I should add ~16 strokes to my <100 number to get onto the green, or 53 total. At 14 over that, I was clearly wasting TONS of strokes, almost one per hole, within 100 yards. 

 

That of course means that average from 100 or more was 3, and shots from 100 or more was 54... That does include 5 penalty strokes (4 water balls, 1 OOB). Total strokes from >100 should be <36, i.e. 1 on par 3s, 1 on short par 4s and 2 on longer par 4s, and 2-3 on par 5s depending on length--but they're all short enough here. On this course if I assume a driving distance of 240 yards (which would be easily achievable for me if I could actually hit driver), I should be within 100 on 3 of the par 4s and within 100 after my second shot on every par 5, so I should be somewhere in the 29 stroke range... And I was at 54. Should tell you how well I was hitting the ball. 

 

Good shots of the day:

 

1st hole (par 5): After some middling tee and iron play, I find myself lying three in a greenside bunker. Up and down gets me par. The sand is fluffy, I've got a good (uphill) lie, and I grab my 60/14 and stick it to about 5 feet. I make the putt for par, and thought my round was off to a good start. Well... Not so much. 

 

5th hole (par 5): I hit my tee shot low and left into the next fairway, and even worse it had hit the front of a hill as it crossed the fairways that popped it up and took all the distance off. I had a clear path back into my own fairway, but wanted to lay up short of water. Ball was below my feet and I had 7i. I hit a gorgeous iron exactly where I wanted, dropping right back in the middle of the [correct] fairway. I consider this a good shot because my execution was exactly what I wanted--but course management wasn't. I should have taken two extra clubs because I left myself 200 from the green with a forced carry over water. I ended up with a lost ball and a 9 on that hole...

 

11th hole (par 4): The only "good" drive I hit all day, and it was only good by relative standards. Aimed down the right side of the fairway playing the draw, and got pretty decent contact. Drive was still lower than optimal, but started right and curved back towards the left side. Got good run across the fairway and ended up in the fairway. I used The Grint to measure the shot and it was 247 yards. 

 

11th hole (par 4): That "good" drive left me in a much worse place than I'd like. There are trees down the left on this hole and another 20-25 yards would have put me past the trees with a clear shot to the green. Instead, I was behind the trees and my only play was a low, running punch shot. There's a clear line, but anything left or right of the green is in a bunker. I'm left with a little over 100 yards. I take my 6i and play the ball back in my stance to close the face. I know it's going to turn left so I aim right, basically just to the left edge of a greenside bunker. I hit it perfectly, it scoots out under the trees, starting exactly on the line I intended, with a slight left curve. It runs right up the fairway onto the green, finishing dead in line with the pin, on the back of the green. Still left a long put (I two-putted for par), but given the degree of difficulty on that shot, I hit it about the best I have any reasonable expectation to hit it.

 

That's it. 4 shots that I can be really happy with in 18 holes of golf, maybe a few more if you include a couple putts that sank. There are maybe three other bunker shots I didn't hate, but none of them were close enough to convert and make the putt.

 

Negatives:

 

Obviously ballstriking. I could not put the club face on the back of the ball. Some of my best shots off the tee were low hooks. Many were tops and s&$@^s.

 

Short game. Chunks and distance control were terrible. This course has pretty quick greens, so I think the fear of hitting long led to a lot of chunks. But then every time I made good contact, I was over the green. 

 

Lost balls. One was a tee shot s&$^k OOB with a 3i on a short par 4, where I was just trying to get it out safely into the fairway. Clearly that didn't work (and then I topped my 5i next off the tee). One was on the 5th hole where I topped my third shot JUST short of the water. I then made a bad decision to try to hit a PW over the water to the green off an impossible lie, and it went 30 feet into the water. I should have taken a SW/LW and played it safely left of the green at an angle I could put club on ball. The next was the following hole, where after a topped tee shot [see a trend here?] I just wanted to advance the ball with a 7i into the fairway, and the one thing I couldn't do was turn it too far left. I aimed WELL right, struck the ball beautifully, and it just turned, and turned, and splashed... The next tee I s@#^ked my tee shot to the right into the wooden board on the ground supporting some nets to keep errant tee shots away from houses, and it caromed left into the pond in front of the tee box. The final was on a long par 5, where water down the right side could be in play for a decent (250+ drive)... I put my third shot into the front of the hazard. Yeah... That was after two topped balls in a row.

 

It was the sort of day to make you question whether you should continue playing the game...

[betarhoalphadelta]

54 minutes ago, bortass said:

Did you play with the short demos? 1.5 inches shorter than you are used to doesn't sound like an easy change to make in a short amount of time.

 

No, I left them at home. I realized that based on the range time I'd have NO clue of my distances with those clubs, and the one club I thought might have a significant use (the 3u off the tee) was shorter than my own typical 3i so I wasn't sure when I'd even pull them out of the bag. I just didn't see any way they'd help my game, and didn't see any actual use for testing them on-course based on the range. 

[95124hacker]

Were you fitted for X flex 130g steel shafts? That seems like “pro level” to me. For someone trying to improve ball striking, that seems to be a peculiar choice. I’m not a fitter or golf coach, just an avid student of the game. I apologize if you were properly fitted into those...

[betarhoalphadelta]

8 hours ago, 95124hacker said:

Were you fitted for X flex 130g steel shafts? That seems like “pro level” to me. For someone trying to improve ball striking, that seems to be a peculiar choice. I’m not a fitter or golf coach, just an avid student of the game. I apologize if you were properly fitted into those...

 

No, not fitted. One of the takeaways of the demos is that I probably need another professional fitting... 

 

That said, I'm 6'5", ~260#, and my 7i SS is around 89-90 mph. So I was taking a chance, partly because I've always liked a heavier feel which helps me not get crazy with my tempo. 

 

Honestly I had no problem swinging those clubs though... The bigger problem I had was the lack of length.

[bortass]

When’s your next round?

 

I would recommend a professional fitting too. Your height is definitely atypical.

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 5/9/2021 at 9:06 AM, bortass said:

When’s your next round?

 

I would recommend a professional fitting too. Your height is definitely atypical.

 

Playing 18 at my typical par-60 course Sunday. Haven't touched a club since "the 121 incident". I suppose I'd better hit the range once or twice this week...

 

The more I look at single-length irons, the more intrigued I am... Considering whether I should get myself fit for those... Reduce as many variables as I can from the equation to improve consistency...

[bortass]

14 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

The more I look at single-length irons, the more intrigued I am... Considering whether I should get myself fit for those... Reduce as many variables as I can from the equation to improve consistency...

 

I haven't looked into those that much but they have sounded interesting. It does sound like it would reduce the variables. I'll be curious what you think if you head down that path.

[betarhoalphadelta]

Hit the range today for the first time swinging a club since the horrible round. 

 

I went back to basics... Just focusing on Monte's drills and half-swings. Out of ~100 balls in a large bucket, I didn't take more than maybe 15-20 full swings. Another 20+ balls just spent pitching with PW and SW as a break from the drills and to work on short game contact/control. 

 

But the rest was just trying to remind my body how to hit a golf ball. Overall--I think I started to get back to something resembling a golf swing. I can feel it in my left hip and ankle, so I think I was actually doing the right move. There were some chunks and mishits in there, but it felt better. 

 

After that last round, it feels like climbing out of a hole just to get back to my normal level of suck... But I'll take it.

 

Shooting for another range session Friday before my round at the much easier course Sunday.

[sprcoop]

betarhoalphadelta, sounds like you are working hard.  These guys (credit GLK for showing me this) are really into working smart (not that you aren't). 

They can help you take what you are working on from Monte and not only get those changes cemented faster but get them from practice to the course. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/GameLikeTraining/videos

 

Take whatever Monte has you working on and configure your own spacing, variability and challenges when you practice.

 

I am finding their concepts moving my own swing changes along faster.  YMMV

 

This is an example of one of their many circuits.  I'm not saying you need these drills.  The important part is understanding the concepts of inserting spacing, variability and challenge into whatever drills you are doing and developing your own circuits.

 

 

 

 

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Thanks @sprcoop -- truly "targeted" practice is probably something that I need to do better. I definitely try to work wedge game on the range hitting a variety of clubs and trajectories to specific targets. And for the longer clubs try to intersperse the drills I'm working on with full swings to get that movement to ingrain. And I try to vary clubs and activities so I'm not just bashing 100 straight balls straight downrange with a full swing 7i lol...

 

But I don't do a good enough job with the longer clubs of picking a specific target to try to aim at instead of a direction to aim... I also probably need to do things to challenge myself and raise the stakes of meeting those challenges. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Played 18 yesterday. I was hoping to get another range session in on Friday, but couldn't fit it into my schedule, so no dice. 

 

The course is Oso Creek in Mission Viejo, CA. It's 3670 yards, par 60. Course rating is 57.4, slope of 95. Course has no driving range. Weather shows some rain that should just be ending, and I'd had a little misting drizzle walking the dog, but it's dry at tee off. 

 

Hole 1, 285 yard par 4, HDCP 11: Straight hole with little trouble. Creek crossing the fairway short and shouldn't be in play. Left-side fairway bunker and green protected in front right by a bunker. Playing about 265 today. Given a lack of warmup and how I've been hitting, I pull 7i, just hoping to put one out into the fairway. Nope... Top it off the first tee, but luckily I see it kick over the creek. So at least I don't have a penalty on my first ball. Second shot I'm now 205 out, and rather than hit the 5i that I didn't trust off the tee and try to reach it, I use 7i again. I make a much better strike this time (meaning I used the clubface instead of the sole), but it's still low on the face and doesn't get a lot of height. It curves left past the fairway bunker and ends up just into the rough about 40 yards short. I've now got a clear pitch to a pin a little past center of the green. I make a bad decision and use PW instead of SW--I get a lot more practice pitching with my SW but I know I have a lot of green to work with so PW seems like it should be the "right" play. I actually strike the ball well, but I land it too far and it rolls onto the back fringe. Now I'm left with about a 25-footer, slight downhill. I hit it well, but a little too much on it, and it rolls about 5 feet past. Now putting for bogey, I just have a mental lapse and completely mishit the putt, hitting the ground as well, and it goes about 2.5 feet. I make that. Double, +2.

 

Not a good start. 

 

Hole 2, 171 yard par 3, HDCP 9: Straight downhill par 3 with no trouble short, but a bunker right and a bunker behind the green, which slopes back to front. Playing short today to a front pin maybe just over 160. I pull 7i. Again, much as is usual when I have no warm-up, I strike it low on the face. It's a slight pull, starting just left of the pin, and curving left. I end up off the green to the left in the rough, about 20 yards from the pin. And... The fun begins. I've got a good enough lie to use my 60/14, but I don't commit and flub it about 4 feet. Try again and chunk it just to about or barely short of the fringe. Pull my putter in disgust, but then I see that there's too much undulation in the fringe between me and the hole, so I chip again. Chip it about 8 feet past the hole. I hit a good putt, but it's a tricky left-to-right and doesn't go in. Make the next one. Triple, +5.

 

Yeah... Hoping the wheels don't come off.

 

Hole 3, 146 yard par 3, HDCP 15: Slightly uphill, with a bunker short left and long right. Pin is center, and it's playing a little under 140. I pull PW. Much better strike than the past few holes, but it still comes off the face on a little lower trajectory... But it's straight and looking good. I see it hit the front of the green, but there's a little valley on the green so I can't see much else. I walk up, and I see I'm JUST on the front edge, about 5 feet behind my ball mark... I guess that low trajectory shot was a spinner! I pace it off and it's about 25 feet. I hit it well, lag it to kick-in territory, and make it. Par, +5.

 

Ok, wheels still on. 

 

Hole 4, 266 yard par 4, HDCP 13: This hole has trees all down the right side, and the fairway slopes pretty strongly right-to-left. The trees can catch errant balls to the right, dropping them on the slope where they often roll right to the middle. There's a fairway bunker to the left and the only protection for the green is a bunker behind and a pond to the FAR left. I hit 5i. Low trajectory, starts on line, but turning left. I yell at the ball "Don't go in the bunker!", but it doesn't listen. I'm in the fairway bunker. Get up there, and I've got a nice clean lie, and I'm about 105 to the pin. I have no clue how to judge fairway bunker shots, so I take PW and about a 3/4 swing, and make a decent strike but it's short and right. From here I'm a bit hazy... I bogey the hole with 1 putt on the card, but I've completely forgotten what my pitch(es) and putts were. Oh well. Bogey, +6.

 

Hole 5, 168 yard par 3, HDCP 5: This is an uphill hole, plays long to a blind green. Bunker to the left and anything farther left is a steep slope down to the creek. Pin is in the front and it's playing short, so I pull 8i. Well, again I hit it like crap, low on the face, and NOT the trajectory of an 8i. But it's on line and got speed, so it's at least up there. I get up the hill and I see that I'm an inch onto the back fringe for a front pin... Ooops. I pace it off at 22 paces, so I figure I'm putting about 60 feet, down a hill, right-to-left. I lag it to within about 18 inches, and make the par putt. Par, +6. 

 

Hole 6, 296 yard par 4, HDCP 7: Elevated tee, creek across the hole that shouldn't be in play, which continues up the left side and becomes a greenside pond. Fairway bunker down the right side about 200 yds and the green is protected on the right by a bunker and the left by the pond. Take 6i IIRC, and top/blade it, but it's over the creek and, oddly enough, in the center. At least the elevated tee helped me out here. Now about 160 out and pull 8i, and I'm worried about either hooking it into the pond or double-crossing and putting it in the bunker right of the pin that I'm aiming at. So of course I don't commit to the shot and s$&@k it about 80 yards and off to the right. Fine. At least it's safe and dry. Now I'm hitting SW into the pin, and hit it perfectly, dropping about 8 feet from the hole. It's a little tricky, left-to-right and a little downhill, but nothing too crazy. I make the putt. Par, +6.

 

Hole 7, 148 yard par 3, HDCP 17: Straight hole, protected right and behind by bunkers. Pin in the center, and I pull 9i... Which I proceed to hit a low hook into the fairway of #4. I'm actually almost green-high, but now I'm about 55 yards from the hole... Yeah, it was a big hook. I've got a nice lie and the fairway is oddly much more green and soft than usual (we'd all remarked walking up #1 how green the course was today), so I pulled the 60/14 and planned to hit an 80% shot with it. Which I did, exactly how I envisioned it, and stuck it to about 7 feet. Got to see a buddy's putt coming from the opposite side of the hole and went long, and rolled straight, so I figured the line was about dead center. I stroked it pure and it dropped. Par, +6. 

 

Wow... After that horrific start, I've got 4 pars in 7 holes and I'm playing one shot inside bogey golf. I'll take that. 
 
Hole 8, 174 yard par 3, HDCP 3: Tough hole, always seems to play longer than its distance. Narrow, long green, protected right and left by bunkers, and a creek across the "fairway" that shouldn't be in play. Playing short today, though, with tees up and a front pin, so I pull 8i. And I blade/top it and all I can hope is that it stops short of the creek. Luckily, with the soft conditions and slightly taller rough, it stops. I'm now again about 55 yards from the pin, and I liked the 60/14 on the last shot, and I've got a fluffy enough lie, so I try to execute the same shot as the last hole. I end up pulling it slightly left and long relative to the front pin, but it hits the green and stops dead. Now I'm putting downhill on a left-to-right break. I hit my lag putt fairly well, but a little long, and it rolls about 4 feet past on the high side. A little less juice on it would have been perfect. And... Then it takes two to get home from 4 feet. Ugh. Double, +8. 

 

Hole 9, 317 yard par 4, HDCP 1: I hate this hole. I really, really do. There's a creek running along the left side and then crossing the fairway right at the 220-230 mark, particularly when the tees are back like they are today. So I can pull driver (which I don't hit) and have a 230 yd forced carry, or I can pull PW because with the way the fairway feeds down to the water, anything longer than PW could leave me wet. Today the tees are way back and with the soft conditions I don't think the roll-out will be as significant, so I pull 9i. Again I hit a lower trajectory shot than usual, feels like a toe hit as well, but it's straight and safe. I get up to the ball and there's one ball that stopped a foot short of the cart path, and one down the hill that obviously rolled all the way down the cart path. Mine is the one that stopped, so I've got 160 to the green and it's not nearly as uphill from here. Ball is above my feet. I pull 8i, and hit it long and it curves left. Light rain is starting to come down. It hits left of the green and kicks over the cart path behind the green into some scrub and rolls back down onto the path. I take relieve behind the path but I'm basically in some loose mulch on a downhill lie now, and trying to pitch with my SW I end up short of the green. I pitch again, and get it to about 10 feet. Two putt from there. Double, +10. 

 

Not happy about how I got my doubles on the last two holes--a three-putt on 8 and a flubbed pitch on 9. But it could be worse, and I made it around the front in 41 / +10. I'll take it, especially after the way this round began.

 

Hole 10, 242 yard par 4, HDCP 16: Another hole that almost always screws me. It's so short and easy, and playing 230 today, with a bunker short left but otherwise pretty benign. But it's never a good hole for me. Like today! Hit 7i off the tee to just lay up, and I blade/top it about 70 yards--but at least it's straight. Left with 9i distance, and I chunk my 9i leaving me still 40 yards short of the green with a back pin. Pull SW and pitch, and I just don't commit to the shot and leave it short on the front fringe. Already disgusted, I putt from there and I'm at least in the vicinity, but still left with 2-putt distance. Which I do. Ugh. Double, +12.

 

Rain has now passed though, so that's nice.

 

Hole 11, 172-yard par 4, HDCP 6: It's slightly uphill, to a blind green. Protected in the back by a bunker but otherwise pretty straightforward. IIRC I pulled 7i here, and I s@#&k it into the bushes 20 yards ahead and right. Luckily I can find it, but now I have to punch out through a bush. I hit it poorly, and it strikes dead center of the bush, and drops and rolls down into the leaves of that bush. I punch out again and at least make progress, hitting about 110 yards and I'm short left of the green, laying 3. I make a decent pitch, to about 8-10 feet IIRC, but two putt from there. Triple, +15. 

 

Guess I'm starting the back 9 about the same as the front. 

 

Hole 12, 118 yard par 3, HDCP 18: This is a downhill hole, protected short left by a bunker with a pretty severe back to front sloping green. Middle pin but front tee, so playing about 110 to the pin. I pull SW and figure I can get there, but I block it to the right and it hits the slope off the green, kicking even farther right. I'm well off the green and pitching uphill, and I get it up onto the green, but right and 20' short of the pin. I have a very tricky downhill right-to-left putt, but I hit it to within 6". So that's good. Bogey, +16.

 

Hole 13, 288 yard par 4, HDCP 8: Straight hole, with a bunker protecting the left side of the green and some boulders out on the right rough in the fairway, but overall pretty tame. I'm pretty disgusted with my striking, so I just pull my 6i out and take a nice, easy, relaxed practice swing, and try to replicate that. Which, oddly enough, worked. I hit a nice baby draw to the middle of the fairway. Maybe not great distance, but at least it wasn't bladed, topped, or s$@^%#d. I'm left with a little probably 115 IIRC to a back pin, so I pull PW and choke down for an 80% swing, and hit that dead on perfect too. It stops pin-high, about 7' right. Left with a pretty easy birdie putt... And I hit it perfectly on line and it stops 3" short. Oh well. Par, +16.

 

Hole 14, 163 yard par 3, HDCP 10: Another uphill par 3 to a blind green. Protected on the right by a bunker, and on the left by a severe slope down to the creek. Front pin again but I liked my tee shot on the last hole, so I club up to 7i and just want to take an easy swing. It's not perfect, starting right and curving back a little left, and I'm worried I'm in the bunker. Luckily it stops short of the bunker and I'm pitching. I don't commit to the pitch... I feel myself decelerate into the ball and I only make it to the fringe. Now I'm left with a 25-footer and I lag it to within 3 feet, and make the putt. Bogey, +17.

 

Hole 15, 162 yard par 3, HDCP 12: Round back-to-front sloped green, with a bunker left and pond more left. Playing just over 140 today, and I figure I'll choose an easy 9i instead of a stiff PW. I make decent contact, but pull it left and it's curving more left... Luckily I end up left of the bunker but right of the pond, so it could be worse. Now I'm pitching uphill, over a bunker, over two geese with their four little baby goslings, to a pin that's not exactly short-sided but not enough green to trust it to stop. Well, I avoid the bunker and murdering the geese, but I fly it too far and it rolls all the way to the right [far] edge of the green. I pace it off and I've got about 25-30 feet for par, on a severe right-to-left slope. I strike the putt, and it's looking good... goood... gooooodd... And it stops 2" short, dead on the right line with the break. Oh well. Given everything, I'll take my bogey. Bogey, +18.

 

Hole 16, 136 yard par 3, HDCP 14: Bunkers left and right, but a pretty easy back-to-front sloped round green to hit to. Pin is back so I figure an easy 9i. Unfortunately I forget to close the clubface and block it FAR right. Yell "FORE" because I see someone walking their dog, who doesn't even bother looking up. Luckily the ball lands 15 yards past them on a hill, and feeds back down. Good thing--if I'd come home and had to tell my wife that I'd hit a golden retriever with a golf ball I'd be typing this post in traction lol... But now I'm off the right side of the green, on a bare lie, pitching over a bunker to a short-sided pin. I can't hit my 60/14 from this lie, so I use the SW. I hit a low spinner that just clears the lip of the bunker and lands in the rough short of the green, but it's still rolling fast onto the green. I figure I'm gonna be 25 feet past the pin... But it hits the pin and kicks two feet right and stops. Phew! Of course, though, I lip out the simple 2-foot putt for par. Terrible. Bogey, +19. 

 

Hole 17, 193 yard par 3, HDCP 4: Pretty straightforward hole but long for a par 3, with a bunker behind the green but not much other trouble. Center pin, tees are up. I think I pulled 6i here but don't remember. Either way, I hit a low draw that bounces into the rough left of the green, finishing about pin-high. I've got an uphill pitch, but this time my lie is good enough for the 60/14. I don't hit it well, it's low, left, and long... But with the fresh grooves on the wedge and the spin of a Kirkland ball, it lands on the far side of the green and stops dead. So at least I'm putting instead of pitching from the other side. I think I paced this off at about 15 paces, so I'm about 40 feet. I lag it very well to within 3 feet, and make the putt. Bogey, +20. 

 

Hole 18, 225 yard par 3, HDCP 2: Tough hole, due to length as a par 3, and that it's a long narrow green protected left and right by bunkers, and a pond more left. There's also a creek across the fairway that shouldn't be in play. Tees are on the back tee box today and it's a center pin, playing 220. I figure that I know I'm not going to put a 3i on the green the way I've been striking today, so I just pull out my 6i and hope I can get it into the fairway leaving me a decent pitching opportunity... Well, I top it, and I'm in the "fairway", but short of the creek and at now about 9i distance IIRC. Oh well. At least I'm not in the creek. Hit the 9i, and I'm watching it curve left... Thinking that with the amount of long rough between the bunker and the pond, it might stop there even despite the slope... Nope. Hits the rough, and I see it bounce/roll down the slope into the pond. Damn. I get up there and actually find the ball; it's on a little tuft of grass jutting out above the water, but 18" below the drop-off of the edge, so it's unplayable. I take my drop and I'm hitting 4. I pitch over the bunker nicely and it stops about 5' from the pin. That putt has a little tricky break, but I make it. Double, +22. 

 

Finish with a 41/41, for 82 and +22. It was definitely an improvement over my last round, but I am just not happy at all with my ballstriking. It's not a good feeling to walk up to a full swing with a mid to short iron and not even trust that you're going to deliver the clubface to the back of the ball. And to not even bother with anything longer than a 5i. Sure, on this course you don't "need" driver anywhere but the 9th hole, but I could get myself a lot closer to greens on those par 4s if I had any trust whatsoever in my driver, 4w, or 3i/4i. 

 

I count 54 shots from <100 yards, for an average of 3.00. And 33 putts (including counting the one from the fringe on 5). That's not horrible for only 3 GIR, and I can easily count a couple of the areas where I could improve that. That lines up with my gut feeling that although I'm still making a fair number of mistakes in the short game, my short game and putting wasn't all that bad. Lag putting was a strength, and I've been working on my putting mat to get better at rolling putts on line. I've also been looking 6 inches ahead of the ball when putting and I think that's helped keep things on line. 

 

So... Gonna need a lot of range time... Need to find my swing, because it's gone.

[bortass]

I know this won't make you feel any better but I hit a great chip to 2 feet Saturday and missed the putt. So I know the feeling and you're not alone.

 

It was good to read about the good shots you had. The PW that was long because it was well struck, even if it was the wrong club, is a good thing in my mind. I'm not a natural optimist but a well struck ball, even if it leads to bad things, is always something to feel good about. You also had some solid putts from the sounds of it.

 

Committing to the shot is likely mental and should fix itself overtime with experience. I don't get the impression that you're the kind of guy that can't decide what to hit every time. 

 

I have a suggestion, take it with a mountain of salt, but have you ever thought of hitting more half shots on this course? I find it much easier to hit a partial iron than a full swing iron. The ball just comes out lower and will run more probably lose 10-15 yards in my case. Thing is I rarely hit those offline. So it's a shot that goes in the direction it's supposed to and a reasonable distance for the club in question. 

 

#7 for example is 148 yards and doesn't sound like there's much trouble short. What would happen if you hit a partial 8i instead of your 9i? Would it reach? Just getting on the green is a battle at our skill level, so even if it leaves a long putt, who cares for now?

[betarhoalphadelta]

Committing to the shot is often a problem for me on chips or short pitches... It's that mental fear of blading something 20 yards past the hole, even though that is so rarely my miss. But I find myself decelerating into the ball, chunking it, and then it doesn't go anywhere. Once I get to about 25-30 yards I feel much more free in my swing and if I mishit I believe it's more of a mechanical inconsistency than a mental shutdown. 

 

I'm not opposed to the idea of clubbing up and taking a partial swing. But right now I feel like I'm such a mess with every club longer than a PW though that even taking easy or partial swings lead to questionable results. 

 

I think it's going to just take a lot more range time than I've been giving. And if that doesn't work, then back to Monte. 

[MTgolfer]

39 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Committing to the shot is often a problem for me on chips or short pitches... It's that mental fear of blading something 20 yards past the hole, even though that is so rarely my miss. But I find myself decelerating into the ball, chunking it, and then it doesn't go anywhere. Once I get to about 25-30 yards I feel much more free in my swing and if I mishit I believe it's more of a mechanical inconsistency than a mental shutdown. 

 

I'm not opposed to the idea of clubbing up and taking a partial swing. But right now I feel like I'm such a mess with every club longer than a PW though that even taking easy or partial swings lead to questionable results. 

 

I think it's going to just take a lot more range time than I've been giving. And if that doesn't work, then back to Monte. 

I have had the same issue on short shots. I was terrible at them for so long, all I could picture was chunks and blades. I finally got halfway decent with them, but erasing that mental image took a lot of good shots. They still creep in on occasion…

[betarhoalphadelta]

9 minutes ago, MTgolfer said:

I have had the same issue on short shots. I was terrible at them for so long, all I could picture was chunks and blades. I finally got halfway decent with them, but erasing that mental image took a lot of good shots. They still creep in on occasion…

 

Yep... Honestly I've played more in the last 10 months since I came back into the game than I've probably played in any 10 month stretch since I was a teenager. I think that on-course practice is helping me so much breaking these habits. Especially since I miss so many greens--I get LOTS of short game practice lol..

 

In fact, my playing partners have been complimenting me on my pitching/chipping game. Clearly I still have these glaring mistakes coming in, but overall it's been something that just being on the course and hitting a lot of shots has helped me improve. When I don't decommit from the shot, I honestly think I do pretty well for someone of my cap. Not that I'd call it a "strength" of my game, of course, but it's one of the areas that's starting to "suck less" 😉

 

Part of it on #2 yesterday is that I used the 60/14. Because I play on so many tight lie SoCal muni courses where the fairways are scrub grass on top of hardpan and it has so much bounce, I don't use it or practice it as much for those short chips/pitches as I should. I had a good lie in the rough but wanted to use it as I didn't have a lot of green to work with. I think it creeped into my brain that with that much bounce I might be more likely to blade it, and then I mishit it out of fear. Twice. 

 

But I also had some good shots with the 60/14 and so maybe the memory of those will help exorcise the demons...

[betarhoalphadelta]

BTW here is the 9th hole I always complain about. 

 

About where the layup marker is shown is where everything starts sloping down and left to the creek. Right in front of the layup marker is the cart path. Land on it and the ball rolls all the way down. Go beyond the cart path and when it's hot and dry, your ball may roll all the way down into the creek. Even if it doesn't, you're trying to elevate the ball from a severe downhill lie. At the shortest point on the left, it's a 220 carry to get over the creek from the back yes. On the right it's 240+. And then it's a big climb up the hill to the green, probably at least 40 feet vertically.

 

So I try to land short of the path. And usually that a PW or 9i depending on tee location, because with my left miss I don't want to give a ball any more chance to catch that down left slope with speed and end up in the left creek.

 

Until I get reliable with a driver, I don't know how else to play it...

 

[bortass]

Well, without seeing it in person, I think you have the right idea. Is there a flat area bordering the creek? First priority is a tee shot that gets you in play from a good spot. Severe downhill lies aren't that, it's too easy to blade one into the water in my experience. So I'd layup like you and then hit whatever club is needed next. My course has a hole with a similar dynamic.

 

It's 329 on the card, 90* dogleg left. The green is lower than the fairway because there's a forced carry over a stream that's a good 10 yards wide. Short par 4 that I tend to layup on unless i draw the ball and reduce my distance to center enough. It's not glamorous but I'd rather punch a little 9i to the base of the slope and short of the stream to pitch it on than try to hit a 7w from 170ish. I can hit the 7w shot but it's not a given.

 

Now if you get your driver working and you can easily carry the stream, bombs away! Easy for me to say though since I don't have any tee shots with that kind of risk reward, lol.

[betarhoalphadelta]

There is a flat area bordering the creek down on the left where it bends by the cart path. You're way under the green (vertically), but that's a good place to be. As I mentioned I stopped a foot short of the cart path way up the hill while my buddy (who hit on a pretty similar line) ended up down at the bottom of that stuff... I've actually been down that way quite a few times, and as long as your ball doesn't have enough speed to roll off into the creek on the left, it helps add distance to the tee shot even when I hit PW or 9i. I try to avoid it due to my left miss--too much curve and it won't stop before the creek in most typical dry conditions...

 

To give a sense of the topography, the two triangular-shaped rocky areas down the left side of the fairway are small rock waterfalls, each one 8-10' tall. Should help give a sense of how much elevation is lost from tee to the creek. 

 

Between the cart path and the creek, it's a bad area--unless your miss is a push or a fade that gets you into that big area to the right beyond the cart path. It's pretty flat up there, and it's the one area that you can safely hit say a 180-190 shot and have a good lie and shorter approach to the green--but that means you're hitting directly over that right bunker protecting the green. I'd rather be low and left, as long as it doesn't feed all the way into the water. 

 

If I had a reliable driver shot it wouldn't matter. I may still sweat it from the back tees, but when they're up at all I wouldn't have problems carrying it. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

So unfortunately I haven't had as much time to practice as I'd like. Only one range session in the last two weeks. That went fairly well though. I worked on the move from Monte on partial swings most of the session, with maybe 25-30% full swings interspersed. One of the takeaways is that I was just letting myself get too tense. I tried to relax and swing more freely and all of a sudden contact was much better.

 

I played 18 yesterday. Course is Rancho San Joaquin in Irvine. It's listed as 6128 yards, par 72, 69.4/123. Significantly longer and more difficult than Oso Creek. Now, that's a bit of a lie right now... They're redoing all their tee boxes, so all day we were hitting off temporary tees, and with the exception of one hole most were 30-60 yards shorter than usual. So I'll list the printed length of the hole below, followed by--to the best of my recollection--what my watch GPS told me the actual tee distances were. 

 

Hole 1, 505 (445) par 5, HDCP 5: Slight dogleg left par 5. Open fairway with trees right between the first hole and the range. To the left is sparse trees and farther left is the 18th fairway. Left can be bad if you're stuck too close to a tree, but can also be pretty open. Green is protected front left, and pin-high right, by bunkers. I tee off with 5i. Despite range warmup, I hit a low pull hook that doesn't get more than 30 feet off the ground. It hits a hill and pops up, and then goes over the hill, so I didn't even get the run-out of the low pull hook. I'm between the 1st and 18th fairway in the rough. I think I was left with somewhere in the 300 range, and trees somewhat in the distance that I need height to clear. So I pull 6i, swing easy, and absolutely stripe it. My line would have put me back into the fairway on the right side, but it's a baby draw that curves beautifully into the center. I must have gotten some friendly roll, too, because when I get up to the ball, I'm within 100... About 85-90 to a center pin IIRC. From there I take SW, choke down slightly, but take a full swing. I make perfect contact, ball is right on line... And 20 yards too far. Damn. Off the back edge of the green. Oh well. Got a lot of green to work with, so I pitch back on with the SW, and my ball stops about 7 feet short of the pin. I barely miss the putt. Bogey, +1. 

 

Hole 2, 142 (100) par 3, HDCP 17: Short par 3 on a normal day, playing 100 to the center and red pin, so it *should* be front, but I'm looking at it and it looks more middle to me. Green is protected by a big and nasty bunker front left, and is elevated so misses can leave tricky chips. The front of the green is very heavily sloped. I take SW, don't choke down, and plan to take an easy swing. I hit pretty decent contact, slightly right of the pin, and I see it hit the green and kick left, stopping short and almost in line with the pin. When I get to the green, I see my ball mark was about pin high but I spun it back about 5 feet, so I've got a 5-footer for birdie. It's *mostly* straight and a little uphill. I strike it firm and it hits the pin dead center and drops right in! Birdie, E.

 

Hole 3, 325 (285) par 4, HDCP 15: Shorter par 4 that plays a very slight dogleg left. To the right is OB, to the left is sparse trees. Pretty wide landing area in the fairway until you get close to the green, so shorter off the tee isn't much of a penalty--especially today when it's playing so short. I take 5i off the tee, and make really nice contact this time but shut the face and it's a pull hook. It's headed into the trees and I hear it hit and see it drop past the tree I'd hit. Get up to my ball in the left rough, and I've got a clean lie about 120 to a center pin. I've got some moderately tall trees in front of me that are full enough that I have to go over them. I worry a partial PW won't have the height, and a full SW won't reach unless I really swing out of my shoes. But unlike the 9th from the exec course a few weeks back, there's no trouble unless I pull it left into a bunker. So I take SW and accept that if I'm short, I'm short, but I need to be over the trees. I strike and it comes off the face with a clicky noise I'm not used to. Not the dead whack of a toe shot or hitting too low on the face. Either way, it's a pretty pure strike, slightly right of target, and flies over the trees nicely and drops onto the fringe, front right of the green. Now I've got a putt or chip up a hill to get to the next tier of green to the pin. I've got clean grass but a little more of it than I'm comfortable in front of me, so I decide to chip. I mishit slightly fat and leave myself 20 feet short. Ugh. I putt uphill and it tracks 2 inches left of the pin, and stops about 3 feet past. I make the return putt. Bogey, +1.

 

Hole 4, 336 (280) par 4, HDCP 11: Another shorter par 4, but tricky. From the tee, the green is directly in line with a large fairway bunker that's usually about 200-210 off the tee. The fairway curls around the left side, and then there's a big valley between the bunker and the green, so if you're down there you're hitting to an elevated green, protected front right by a large bunker. OB all the way down the right side, and safe but sparse trees between fairways if you end up left. Today the bunker is only about 160, so for once I figure I can just fly over it with an iron. I take 6i off the tee, and can tell I hit it a few grooves low because it's not getting much off the ground. It starts dead in line with the bunker and is curving left, and thankfully bounces once short of the bunker, missing it left, and disappears over the hill. Not how I drew it up, but a safe drive nonetheless. I find my ball down in the valley, hitting about 80 yards to a back pin that's up on a flat tier of the green. I hit a choke-down SW. Strike it well, right of the pin, and I'm hoping I got the distance right--which I did this time. I end up on the back tier, pin-high, with a 20-footer for birdie. Being on the top tier means there's not a ton of break, but some headed right-to-left back down the hill, and I don't want to go too long or low lest it just keep rolling. I lag it close for a tap-in. Par, +1.

 

Hole 5, 502 (460) par 5, HDCP 1: Tough hole. Off the tee there's a bunker guarding the right side of the fairway. Right is OP all the way down, left is safer (trees or adjacent fairway) but if you get over there you only have a play back into the correct fairway and can't likely recover without it costing a stroke. After the bunker and down a hill, your second shot plays to a landing area where the fairway is narrow and guarded left and right by lakes. The green is wide but shallow, guarded by the right lake, and elevated 15' from water level. Not only that, 3 palm trees just off the shore of the right lake can get in your way depending on pin placement. Leaving your second short of the lakes gives a mid-long iron and good luck stopping it on that green, if you reach--I've only played here 4 times, and I've embedded my approach in the slope in front of the green twice lol. I take 3i off the green hoping to get myself as far out there as possible. Which of course doesn't work. Low (but straight) shot that stops short of 200y, still short of the bunker. I pull out the GPS and see that I'm 200 to the left lake and 210 to the right, and I don't trust my directional control on irons that can reach narrow fairway, so I  plan to lay up short of the water and lay up again left of the green if the situation dictates. So I take 6i which should be my 180-185 club.  I hit it well, it's tailing a little left, but I'm sure I'm short of the water. Nope. Get up there, and there's no ball. I don't know if it was just the downhill slope, if I caught a little cart path assistance, or if I just hit it better than I thought, but I must have rolled into the water. Take my drop and hitting 4, I'm about 170 out and have a much better angle than from the right. I pull 7i. I feel like I hit a groove or two low, and I'm yelling at the ball to get up, while my buddy thinks it's long and is yelling at it to sit down, and I guess it decided to do something in the middle because I hit and stopped on the green lol. Left with a 30-footer. I hit a mediocre lag (IIRC to around 4-5 feet), but make the putt. Bogey, +2.

 

Bogey on that hole with a water ball? That's actually a really good score. I'd be happy with bogey without a water ball there.

 

Hole 6, 366 (305) par 4, HDCP 3: Short par 4, but with a big lake that is in play if you're long-left off the tee. OB down the right side but this hole is diagonal at the corner of the property, so the farther you are from the tee, the more room there is. The water follows the fairway all the way down the left side, and then there's a bunker between the water and the green protecting the green. Today the water is much closer than usual, about 160. So I plan to take 9i to stay short of the water given my typical left miss, and then leave myself somewhere around 8i/9i to the green. Good plan, yeah? So I s#$&k the first ball OB to the right. Hitting 3 with 9i again, I s#$&k the second ball right, but I see it head towards some bushes and not OB. I head up to where I think the ball went in to the bushes, and plan to drop hitting 5. My buddy says he saw it go in farther ahead, so we move up and I find it in the bushes. I'm still 200 out and in the bushes, and literally the only option I have is to punch out. But at least I'm hitting 4 instead of 5. I punch out and the ball only goes 30 yards or so, but at least I'm back where I have a clear shot to the green. Pull 7i (hitting 5), and it's a worm-burning pull hook, headed straight for the water---BUT it hits a stake denoting the cart boundary and kicks right, staying dry. So that's good luck. Now I'm SW distance from the green, and finally hit a good strike, a ways left, but a good strike, and it lands on the green sitting 6. Looking at a 30 foot downhill left-to-right breaking putt, which I mash it horribly 10 feet past the hole. Ugh. My return gets me to tap-in range, which I make for a 9. Quintuple-bogey, +7.

 

Ouch. Just... Ouch. What should have been two easy short irons turned into a 9. But... Compared to the last time I played this course, I was probably already +20, and here I sit at +7 after 6 holes, just one stroke off bogey golf. I'm still okay with it. 

 

Hole 7, 346 (265), par 4, HDCP 9: Tees are way up because the lake snakes around in front of this tee box, so the only place to put it is across the pond. Hole has a giant tree down the right side that can really mess with approach shots if your tee shot is out right, and the left side is much more open. Green is protected front left by a bunker, and has a bunker behind. Being such a short hole, I take 6i off the tee. Make decent contact, but it's a bit low and, like usual, curving left. Not bad though--decent strike and just puts me in the left rough. I get up to the ball and it's a center pin about 70 yards. I feel good about how I've been hitting the LW today, and I want to get over the bunker and stop dead, so I take the LW and a full swing. I hit it pure, dead on line, and think I'm in great shape... And I fly 15 yards past the pin into the bunker. I get up there and find my ball--embedded 2 inches deep because it came straight down. Try to punch it out, and I'm still in the bunker. Attempt 2 I get out, and I'm about 7-8 feet right of the pin. A buddy hits his pitch and it hits my ball, moving it 3' closer to the pin. At this point I wasn't sure of the rule, and didn't know whether it MUST be returned to its original place or if it's player's choice, so I leave it as it lies, and sink the putt. Bogey, +8.

 

After I got home I looked up the rule, and I guess I was supposed to replace the ball. So technically I should have done that, and maybe might have 2-putted from there. I'll know for next time, though.

 

Hole 8, 166 (140) par 3, HDCP 13: Hole plays uphill to a blind green, with big bunkers fronting the green on the left and right. The temporary tee is on a downhill lie between the original tee box and the left lake from the 5th hole, so it's not a level tee. We've got a slight tail wind here. Center pin. I hit PW. Great line and decent contact but maybe a groove or two low, but it lands just onto the front of the green leaving me a 20-footer for par. I lag it to tap-in range, and make par. Par, +8. 

 

Hole 9, 414 (380) par 4, HDCP 7: Pretty open hole. Decently wide fairway, with sparse trees left and right, and this hole is between #5 (left) and #10 (right), so you're actually pretty safe no matter where you end up (but #10 cuts the corner a little). In fact it's a perfect driver hole if I trusted myself to make contact. (In fact, I hit a second ball with a Ping G25 a friend is letting me try, but that's another story). For my in-play ball I hit a 4i. I was just trying to take a nice easy swing, and I pushed it right into the 10th fairway. That's okay, it's not a horrible place to play this hole. I'm left with just over 200 over some low trees, and I grab 5i. I hit it solidly, but it's pulled and turning left, and I go clear across the fairway to the left. Now I'm in the left rough, with about 60 yards to go, over a bunker. It's a tight lie so I use SW instead of the 60/14 LW, and I chunk it 30 yards. I have a better lie on the next shot, which I pop over the bunker and on the green leaving me 20 feet for bogey. I putt about 4 feet past, and make the comeback. Double, +10. 

 

46 on the front for +10. All in all, a heck of a better start than I typically have here, where I'm almost meeting my handicap at the turn. One off bogey golf and I'll take that on this course any day of the week.

 

Hole 10, 355 (280) par 4, HDCP 10: A bit of a tricky dogleg left, with houses and OB down the left side but still some room to cut the corner if you're brave. My view is that I'll aim WAY right of that, and if my natural left miss takes me over there, I'm okay... There's a fairway bunker at the corner and trees just to the left of that, but with the tees this far up clearing the bunker should be easy. There's bunker left of the green, but otherwise it's pretty open once you're past the corner. I tee up with a 5i... And top it badly about 50 yards. Well, at least it's my first top of the day, 10 holes in lol... Get up to the ball, and I'm too far to really trust reaching with anything but a 3i which I don't hit consistently well, so I take 6i and just plan to advance the ball. I hit a gorgeous 6i starting a little right, and drawing back left into the center of the fairway. Left myself 50-60 yards IIRC, and pop a short SW onto the green, maybe 25 ft short and right. Got an uphill putt to a pin on an upper tier, which I don't lag as well as I'd like, leaving about 4-5 feet. But at least I sink that. Bogey, +11.

 

Hole 11, 368 (330) par 4, HDCP 6: This is HDCP 6 for two reasons. There are a couple of big trees down the left side that if you're over there, you have nothing other than trying to punch under them, lay up over them, or draw around them. That, and the green is very well protected by one bunker front left, and two bunkers to the right. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. I tee up with 6i because it's pretty short, and hit a nice baby draw into the right side of the fairway. I think must have been left with about 170 to a back pin, because IIRC I pulled 7i there. The pin is back right so the goal is to aim for the right edge of the green and figure my typical miss (left) should put me more center-left on the green and if I hit a slight push-draw it should be close. Well, I definitely hit this one low on the face, and it's a low draw that sneaks just by the left bunker and ends up in some fairway-length grass left of the green, about pin-high. I make decent contact on my pitch but I pull it left and a little long, and leave myself a 10-footer for par. I only get it to tap-in distance, so it's a 2-putt. Bogey, +12. 

 

Hole 12, 527 (460) par 5, HDCP 2: Tees are WAY up here... Heck, I've topped tee shots on this hole before and not reached where these tees are lol. There's water down the right side that normally requires a hell of a drive to reach (and usually is in play for a second shot), but today is in play off the tee. Houses and OB down the left side, but decent room between the fairway and those houses that you have to REALLY end up left to be OB. The fairway narrows about 100 yards short of the green near the end of the lake to the left and the encroaching trees on the right, and then the green is protected left and front-right with bunkers. I tee off with 6i because I'm playing this as a par 5 thinking 3 irons should have no trouble getting there--and top it. I don't recall the distance I was left with or the club, but I think I took 7i because I wanted something I could control better and avoid the water. I hit the 7i well, slight draw, finishing in the fairway on the left side. Again I don't recall the exact distance I was left with, but I believe I was down into short iron territory. I mishit the iron and pushed right and low, and it ran up into the front-right bunker. My play out of the bunker went long, and I'm left pitching back to the pin for 5. My pitch left me 15 feet short, my first putt went about 5 feet past, but at least I made the return putt. Double, +14.

 

Hole 13, 157 (100) par 3, HDCP 14: Forced carry over water, protecting the green short and right. Bunker to the left, and the green is pretty heavily sloped so putting can be tricky, but otherwise a pretty straightforward par 3. With the tees this far up, and a slight tail wind, it's made even easier getting into SW territory, which is what I hit. Made pretty perfect contact, slightly left of the pin, and hit the green leaving ~25 feet IIRC. It appears to me to be an almost perfectly straight downhill putt heading back towards the water, and I hit it pretty well online. Obviously scared of knocking it 10 feet past, though, I leave it 18" short. Which I make. Par, +14.

 

Hole 14, 348 (290) par 4, HDCP 8: This hole has a completely blind tee shot down a hill. Trees down the left side and open on the right. Bunker short left of the green, but the hole is not all that hard to play as long as you're not left... I take a 7i thinking that all I want to do is get it down into the fairway and leave myself a short wedge in, and I hook it into the trees. Oops. Looking at the shot I have, I'm now 120 out and I've got a window to punch something closer or potentially on the green. I know these punches from the back of my stance turn left, so I aim a little right, and hit it. I make good contact, but it's turning left too aggressively and the tree that marked the left edge of the intended window jumps right out in front of my ball... But at least it kicks right into the fairway. Left with a pretty simple pitch... I chunk it. Left with another pretty simple pitch, I hit it 25 feet past the hole. I hit my lag putt past the hole leaving me 5 feet coming back, which I miss, so I 3 putt it. Triple, +17.

 

Ouch. So many things went wrong on this hole. 

 

Hole 15, 156 (160) par 3, HDCP 12: This is the only hole where the temporary tee was adjacent instead of ahead of the tee box, so it remained the same distance. This is a strongly uphill par 3, and today was playing to a back pin. Bunkers left and behind protect the green. I think it's 165-170 up the hill with a tailwind. I play 6i, but make not great contact (probably toe) ending up with a push draw that comes back just short-right of the green. I flub the pitch, just barely reaching the green. Now I'm facing about 40 feet, and my lag is not terrible, but not close enough. Another 3 putt. Double, +19.

 

Hole 16, 396 (370) par 4, HDCP 4: Another relatively open hole as it sits between #9 and #4/5. Left isn't that great on this hole, but right is fine. There's no trouble in the fairway, but three bunkers protect the green front-left, front-right, and back-right. I take 4i off the tee, and it's a very low draw but not actually topped, putting me down the left side of the fairway. Not quite the distance I hoped, leaving me 200 to the green. I take 5i from there, and pretty well blast it, but pushing it WAY right of the green, over the trees. I find it in the rough a bit short of the bunkers protecting the 9th green, with a ~55 yard pitch coming back to the correct green. It's a good lie, so I take the LW... And hit it pure, 20 yards long. Ugh. Coming back I'm a bit short-sided now, so I have to take LW again, and it's much better. Pop it on the green 5' from the pin. Make the putt. Bogey, +20. 

 

At this point my buddy, who I had remarked saying that I really wanted to break 100, asked me where I was. Told him +20, and that I felt pretty safe about breaking 100. He said "dude, don't jinx it!" Yeah, am I really going to go +9 in the last two holes???  Okay... Yeah, I guess I'm playing with fire there. 

 

Hole 17, 292 (260) par 4, HDCP 18: Short, straight hole, but 3 bunkers ring a small green, and the fairway is pretty tight, so accuracy is a premium here. On the right side the trees are pretty dense, and if you get stuck there a few near the green are nigh-impossible to hit over. Down the left is more sparse, but still a lot of trees. I hit 6i off the tee, and draw it into the left rough, but in a good spot on top of a hill with a clear shot at the green. Pin is behind the front right bunker, so I aim center of the green... And strike it pure, 20 yards past the green. Ugh. Flub a pitch coming back. Second pitch gets me onto the green--30 feet from the pin. Hit a decent lag putt to about 3 feet... And miss it. Make the return for a 3-putt triple. Ugh. Triple, +23. 

 

I guess I shouldn't have spoken up. 

 

Hole 18, 457 (~435) par 5, HDCP 16: Short par 5, but narrow fairway in the first landing area. It opens up as you approach the hole, but with bunkers left and right of the green. We've pushed the last three skins, so now this is an important hole worth 4 skins and nobody has strokes at HDCP 16... Pressure! I take 4i off the tee and hit a beautiful baby draw into the left side of the fairway. Good start! Get to the ball, and I'm about 210 out, and grab the 4i again. And I top it 110 yards--but at least it's straight. I'm now in the middle of the fairway with about 100-105 to a front pin. This should be perfect SW distance for me. I'm feeling a right-to-left wind, but I don't think it's in my face. I take a swing and make great contact, and it starts right and is coming back left, and drops 3 yards short of the green... I don't know if it was strike, or wind, or what, but it was about a 95 yard shot when I needed about 103. At my ball, I look at the fringe in front of me and I just don't like the looks of the inconsistent grass for putting, so I decide to chip. I push my chip a little right, and make it almost pin-high with about 7' left for par. Two players are out of contention for the hole now, and myself and one other are both putting for par. He's got about an 8-footer, which he leaves 3 inches low of the cup and makes bogey. I line up the putt, looking like it's a little right-to-left, and drain it right in the center of the cup! Par, +23. 

 

Strokes from 100 yards in - 56, average of 3.11

Fairways hit - 5/14

Greens in regulation - 4/18

 

Birdies: 1

Pars: 4

Bogeys: 7

Doubles: 3

Triples+: 3

 

So a 46/49 to finish at 95. Overall, I'm very pleased. Given that my three previous rounds at this course were 109, 112, and 121, I really felt like I wanted to play better. This course is a lot more challenging than my usual course, but I shouldn't be shooting 121 anywhere. 

 

I managed to win 11 skins, and my playing partners were shooting 103 and two 110s, so although the short tees obviously helped me, it's not like the course played easy for everyone. So I feel like it was actually a day when I was playing "well" for someone of my ability. 

 

I'm a little pleased that some of my miscues pitching and on partial wedges were actually from making great contact and going long than mishits. Good ballstriking with poor distance control is an easier fix than the reverse, I think. And generally off the tee and from the fairways I made better contact today as well. Not great, in a lot of cases, and I'm still hitting a lot of left and more left, but if I can walk off a course and count my topped shots on one hand, and my chunked/flubbed chips/pitches on the other, that's okay at my skill level. It's not like I'm going to expect to play a mistake-free round.

 

Obviously I was helped by the course playing so short today. I need to keep practicing and I NEED to get to a point where I can trust driver and/or 4w off the tee. On that front, a buddy lent me his Ping G25 that's no longer in his bag as he replaced to try out... I hit a second ball on four holes just to test in since I hadn't had a chance to try it on the range. Has a Diamana 70g S shaft. With the gigantic face on that thing I at least put the face onto the back of the ball with all four attempts. The first two I had it teed up too low and so they were low hooks. The second two I resolved that so they were much higher hooks. LOL... I wonder if I should be looking for fade-biased drivers lol 😉

 

Anyway, I feel much less like I want to throw my golf clubs in the trash after shooting 95 instead of 121, and feeling like maybe I remember how to hit a golf ball again. Progress!

[woodriff]

Following. And Brad. By the looks of your initial changes, you don’t suck.

[betarhoalphadelta]

5 hours ago, woodriff said:

Following. And Brad. By the looks of your initial changes, you don’t suck.

 

I appreciate that... But I suck lol.

 

I believe I have a good golfer inside of me waiting to come out. Hopefully with enough work and practice, that golfer will show up lol.